The purpose of drill is to enable commanders or noncommissioned officers (NCOs) to move their unit from one place to another in an orderly manner, to aid in disciplinary training by instilling habits of precision and response to the leader’s orders, and to provide for the development of all Soldiers in the practice of commanding troops.
Section 1 – History
1-1. Military history reveals that armies throughout the world participated in some form of drill. The primary value of drill, historically, is to prepare troops for battle. For the most part, the drill procedures practiced are identical to the tactical maneuvers employed on the battlefield. Drill enables commanders to quickly move their forces from one point to another, mass their forces into a battle formation that affords maximum firepower, and maneuver those forces as the situation develops.
1-2. In 1775, when this country was striving for independence and existence, the Nation’s leaders were confronted with the problem of not only establishing a government but also of organizing an Army that was already engaged in war. From the “shot heard around the world,” on 19 April 1775, until Valley Forge in 1778, Revolutionary forces were little more than a group of civilians fighting Indian-style against well-trained, highly disciplined British Redcoats. For three years, General George Washington’s troops had endured many hardships—lack of funds, rations, clothing, and equipment. They had also suffered numerous losses to the superior British forces. These hardships and losses mostly stemmed from the lack of a military atmosphere in the country, resulting in the creation of an Army with little or no organization, control, discipline, or teamwork.
1-3. Recognizing the crisis, General Washington, through Benjamin Franklin, the American ambassador to France, enlisted the aid of Prussian officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben. Upon his arrival at Valley Forge on 23 February 1778, von Steuben, a former staff officer for Frederick the Great, met an army of several thousand wretched, half-starved men in rags. He commented that a European army could not be kept together in such a state. To correct the conditions that prevailed, he set to work immediately and wrote drill movements and regulations at night and taught them the following day to a model company of 120 men selected from the line.
1-4. Discipline became a part of military life for these selected individuals as they learned to respond to command without hesitation. This new discipline instilled in them a sense of alertness, urgency, and attention to detail. Their confidence in themselves and their weapon grew as each Soldier perfected the fifteen 1-second movements required to load and fire their musket. As the Americans mastered the art of drill, they began to work as a team and to develop pride in themselves and in their units.
1-5. Watching this model company drill, observers were amazed to see how quickly and orderly the troops could be massed and maneuvered into different battle formations. Officers observed that organization, chain of command, and control were improved as each Soldier had a specific place and task within the formation. Later, the members of the model company were distributed throughout the Army to teach drill. Through drill, they improved the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the Army.
1-6. To ensure continuity and uniformity, von Steuben, by then a major general and the Army Inspector General, wrote the first Army field manual in 1779, “The Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States,” commonly referred to as the Blue Book. The drill procedures initiated at Valley Forge were not changed for 85 years, until the American Civil War, and many of the drill terms and procedures are still in effect today.
1-7. Drill commands are about the same as at the time of the War of 1812, except that then the officers and NCOs began them by saying, “Take care to face to the right, right, face.” Also, during the American revolutionary period, troops marched at a cadence of 76 steps per minute instead of the current cadence of 120 steps. (Cadence is the uniform rhythm in which a movement is executed, or the number of steps or counts per minute at which a movement is executed. Drill movements are normally executed at the cadence of quick time or double-time. Quick time is the cadence of 120 counts or steps per minute; double-time is the cadence of 180 counts or steps per minute.) Then units performed precise movement on the battlefield, and the Army that could best perform them was often able to get behind the enemy, or on their flank, beating them. Speed ruined the winning exactness. Also, firearms shot neither far nor accurately in 1776, so troop formations could take more time to approach the enemy.
1-8. As armament and weaponry improved, drill had to adapt to new tactical concepts. Although the procedures taught in drill today are not normally employed on the battlefield, the objectives accomplished by drill—professionalism, teamwork, confidence, pride, alertness, attention to detail, esprit de corps, and discipline—are just as important to the modern Army as they were to the Continental Army.
Section 2 – Military Music
1-9. Military music has been an integral part of the military since the U.S. Army was created. Drummers have provided beats to help with military drill. Bugles have been used on the battlefield to signal various events. Military musicians have been providing ceremonial music and performing in concerts to boost morale since the Revolutionary War. Cadence is sung in the morning to motivate and captivate Soldiers during physical training while keeping the formation in step. There are popular Country and Service songs played at military functions that tell a story and instill pride in the force such as songs like “Blood on the Risers” and “Ballad of the Green Beret,” as well as marches like The Stars and Stripes Forever.
1-10. The earliest surviving pictorial, sculptured, and written records show musical or quasi-musical instruments employed in connection with military activity for signaling during encampments, parades, and combat. Because the sounds were produced in the open air, the instruments tended to be brass and percussion. Oriental, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and American Indian chronicles and pictorial remains show trumpets and drums of many varieties allied to Soldiers and battles.
National and Military Service Music
1-11. Two of the most distinguished pieces of music in the Army are the national anthem and the official Army song. These two pieces of military music are played at almost every Army function and require Soldiers to stand at attention and sing (as required with the playing of the Army song), or stand at attention and sometimes render the hand salute (as required with the playing of the national anthem). These pieces of military music were written in turbulent times and have significant meaning to all Soldiers and most U.S. citizens.
National Anthem
1-12. Our national anthem officially became “The Star-Spangled Banner” by law on 3 March 1931, in Section 301, Title 36, U.S Code. The national anthem was written from an inspirational event witnessed by the songwriter, Francis Scott Key, as the British Royal Navy conducted a 25-hour bombardment on Fort McHenry. Francis Scott Key observed “Old Glory” still waving at the Fort after the Royal Navy was unsuccessful in destroying it.
Official Army Song
1-13. The official Army song, “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” was formally dedicated by the Secretary of the Army on Veterans Day, 11 November 1956, and was officially announced on 12 December 1957 (see AR 220-90). In addition to standing at Attention during the playing of the official Army song, Army personnel are required to sing the lyrics.
Note. Although there is no Department of Defense (DOD) directive—no oral order given by a commander to direct or cause a subordinate leader or lead element to take action—in this regard, commanders, officers, and personnel from other military branches can encourage the tribute to the Army by standing at Attention when the band plays “The Army Goes Rolling Along.” Army personnel will stand at Attention during the playing of official songs of other branches of Service.
Bugle Calls
1-14. Bugle calls are used in U.S. military service as the result of the Continental Army’s contact with European Soldiers and armies during the revolutionary period. After the American Revolution, many of the French and English bugle calls and drum beats were adopted by the U.S. Army. Bugle calls are musical signals which announce scheduled and nonscheduled events on Army military bases. Appendix I, (table I-1 on pages I-9 through I-11) gives detailed instruction of courtesies required to be rendered during bugle calls played on military installations. See TC 1-19.10 for a full list and description of all the Army bugle calls. There are five classes of bugle calls: warning calls, formation calls, alarm calls, service calls, and ceremonial calls. Some of the most popular and significant bugle calls are—
- ATTENTION. This is taken from the British “Alarm,” at which call the troops turned out under arms. Attention is a parade bugle call letting Soldiers know that they are going to be called to the Position of Attention.
- ADJUTANT’S CALL. The adjutant’s call indicates that the adjutant is about to form the guard, battalion, or regiment.
- FIRST CALL. First call is the bugle call that signals to the troops as a warning that personnel will prepare to assemble for a formation. This bugle call lets Soldiers know to move to the designated formation area.
- REVEILLE. Reveille is the bugle call played to signal the troops to awaken for morning roll call and coincides with the raising of the national Color.
- MESS CALL. The mess call is the bugle call that signals mealtime.
- RETREAT. Retreat is the ceremony that pays honors to the national flag when it is lowered in the evening.
- TO THE COLOR. The old Cavalry call, “To the Standard,” in use from about 1835, was replaced by the present call of “To the Color.” This bugle call is played immediately after the playing of retreat.
- TATTOO. Tattoo is a popular bugle call that is played later in the evening prior to “Taps” and signals to Soldiers that all loud talking and other disturbances must be discontinued within 15 minutes.
- “TAPS.” “Taps” is played on some military installations late in the evening as it signals “lights out” (extinguish all unauthorized lights). “Taps” was adapted by Union General Daniel Butterfield for his brigade back in July of 1862. “Taps” is also played at military funerals and is known to be one of the military’s most recognizable and emotional bugle call.
- SOUND OFF. Although technically not a bugle call, the “Sound Off” performed by the band in ceremonies is derived from the tradition of using bugles to signal and rally troops. The band, in place, plays “Sound Off” (three chords). It then moves forward and, changing direction while playing a stirring march, troops the line and marches past the Soldiers in formation, then returns to its post—the correct place for an officer or NCO to stand in a prescribed formation. Upon halting, the band again plays three chords. Sound Off is a parade bugle call.
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